3 They said to me, “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire.” 4 When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. (Nehemiah 1:3–4)
How do you get the attention of the God of heaven in times of distress, and in my case, simply stress? First, we need not wait to go online, since we’re instructed to pray always (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3), but in the cases of Ezra and Nehemiah, the news they received was so shocking (intermarriage and broken walls) there was nothing left to do but to sit down. Sitting on a low stool for days on end was a sign of bereavement. Nehemiah added in fasting, so struck was he by the bad news.
Perhaps what we might consider doing in these cases is to stop and sit down and appeal to God rather than wringing our hands and scurrying about worrying and panicking. Our first response in times of trouble while in a state of constant prayer should be simply taking it up a notch.
However, many Christians are so caught up in the “normal” issues of life that they’re numb to the massive problems in society, and perhaps that’s a good thing. Jesus instructs us to “not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34)
But men like Ezra and Nehemiah were wired to see globally, not just locally. I would submit that with our constant availability to God and our understanding of him through his word, we all should be just as aware of existential threats as these men. We live in dangerous times. In everything, the only solution is to sit down and cry out.
What we all have in common is that we serve the same God. Knowing this, every problem, big or small, globally or locally, is simplified by “cancelling out the zeros.” It always reduces down to one mighty God in control, of the world, and our next paycheck.
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